US gunman's media image could prompt copycats

UNITED STATES: Virginia Tech university gunman Cho Seung-Hui lived for years in turbulent isolation, but died an American media sensation that could inspire deadly sequels among others driven by anger and a thirst for recognition, experts say.

Three days after Cho killed 32 others and himself in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history, media images of the 23-year-old student posing with his weapons and ranting into a video camera dominated television screens and newspapers across the country in a grim media extravaganza.

Footage and photos, released by NBC from a self-made media package Cho mailed to the television network between rounds of shootings, shocked viewers worldwide and stirred objections from the victims' families and other critics. But experts on violence were most worried that the images could inspire copycats from among a relatively small number psychologically weakened young people, who often grapple with depression or mental illness in a media-dominated society that is criticized for glamorizing high-profile violence.

"The copycat phenomenon feeds on attention and publicity, particularly when the publicity is excessive. When the publicity stops, so does the copycat effect," said Jack Levin, director of the Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict at Northeastern University in Boston.

"These killers are romanticized and glorified by the media," he added. "Suddenly, they become the celebrities that they so much wanted to be."

Sometimes violent action inspires copycat threats rather than actual shootings. "Wall-to-wall media coverage could certainly be a factor in some of the copycat threats," said FBI spokesman Richard Kolko, when asked about the phenomenon. He said such threats have occurred over the past two days in Minnesota, California and Texas.

Experts said Cho himself appeared to be a copycat killer inspired by both real-life killers and violent movies.

Cho referred to the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in a diatribe that itself reminded some experts of the videotaped messages of Middle Eastern suicide bombers.

Postings on Internet film sites also noted a similarity between Cho's poses and scenes from the bloody 2003 South Korean film, "Oldboy." Cho immigrated from South Korea to the United States as a child.

Other observers suggested parallels with the 1976 movie, "Taxi Driver," in which the main character, a troubled Vietnam veteran, goes on a shooting rampage.

Washington, Friday, Reuters